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MAE 148 Testing Wiki
Introduction Team Members Igor Vivcharenko - Computer Engineering (ECE) Cai (Joo Min) Yeo - Electrical Engineering (ECE) Alex Tzu-tying Hung - Mechanical Engineering (MAE) Denis Yang - Mechanical Engineering (MAE) RoboCar06 Development of RoboCar06 Camera Mount RoboCar06 Schematics and Design Improved Camera Mount RoboCar08 and JackRPI09 Improved RoboCar08 Camera Mount Preparing for The Competition 'Setting up a Test Track' Due to unfavorable lighting conditions of the EBU-II track and the low resolution settings on the Raspberry Pi camera, Team 6 discovered an alternative method to help prepare for the competition. Team 6 was able to custom built a temporary track at the Henry Booker Room, located in EBU-I of the Computer Science and Engineering (CSE) building. Around $50 worth of reflective yellow and white tape were purchased from Home Depot. With the tape in hand, Team 6 began training all vehicles for the next 3 nights. The first track test track took a whopping 3 hours to put together but was proven useful as it helped produce a reliable training model for the cars. A Reliable and Successful Model Team 6 started training RoboCar08 on the newly built custom track on November 27, 2018 gathering over 100,000 images. As a result to improved lighting conditions, Team 6 was able to successfully drive RoboCar08 in a clockwise direction at a constant speed autonomous mode. This achievement led to Team 6's choice to continue training in Henry Booker Room for the next few nights rather than the outdoor EBU-II track. 'First Convoy Model Attempt' After a successful constant speed clockwise training model for RoboCar06, team 6 decided to attempt a convoy model with RoboCar06 and RoboCar08. Since driving RoboCar06 was based on human perception and judgement, it was proven difficult to get the right type of data needed to replicate the convoy experience. Team 6 spent countless hours in the Henry Booker Room attempting to establish a working convoy model. A convoy model was also attempted using JackRpi09. There were a few crashes with each cars, nearly damaging the raspberry pi cameras. On November 29, 2019, Team 6 decided to install the Linux operating system on all computers to maximize efficiency for the competition. Autonomous Vehicle Competition at Voyage Professor Jack Silberman suggested Team 6 to participate in an autonomous vehicle competition located in Palo Alto, California. Although not a requirement for the MAE 148/ECE 148 course at UC San Diego, Team 6 decided to participate in this opportunity without any hesitation. 'Heading to Voyage' On November 30, 2018, Team 6 was flown to Northern California, Palo Alto to participate in the DIY Robocars competition held at Voyage, an autonomous vehicle company. Chris Anderson, co-founder and current CEO of 3D Robotics, was the host and organizer of this event. At voyage, there was an approximate attendance of 240 participants. Traveling with team 6 were guest participants, Mark Liu, manager of the Envision Studio at the University of California, San Diego, Zhaoyuan Huo, Rich Wolcott and Professor Jack Silberman. 'Setting Up The Tracks' After arriving at Voyage, Team 6 assisted with building the competition track. The competition track was built using white and yellow reflective tape (the same tape used at the Engineering Building I Track). The boundaries of the track was defined using two lines of white tape, spaced an approximate 5 feet apart. The center of the road was defined using the yellow reflective tape. Once the track was set up, Team 6 began training on the track immediately to collect data. The red monster truck was driven around the competition track a handful times, and the Raspberry Pi camera started collecting images. At the end, the Raspberry Pi camera collected an approximate 52,000 images. 'The Race and Results' After gathering a staggering 52,000 images on the red monster truck, team 6 discovered that all the images were completely pitched-black. This error resulted from not removing the camera cap when gathering data. The competition was held at 7PM-9PM inside Voyage and each competitor was given 3 attempts to accumulate a record-beating time. Team 6 attempted the first round and was not able to finish due to a corrupted training model. Team 6 attempted the competition track again with a training model built prior to the competition and ended up not finishing. Eventually, Team 6 was scratched out on round 3 of the competition. Mark Liu, manager of the Envision Studio at UCSD participated in the competition as '' Team UCSD Rally'' and was able to complete the track within 14 seconds, earning him 3rd place in the competition. Mark Liu later finished 4th place since a competitor was capable to finish a few seconds faster. 'Competition Aftermath' Although Team 6 did not finish the competition strong, Team 6 was proud of the achievements and the amount of effort dedicated to the project. Regardless of the competition results, team 6 and the other UCSD participants celebrated at a Thai restaurant located in Palo Alto, California. The next morning, Team UCSD traveled back to San Diego to continue making changes to all vehicle models. 'Lessons Learned' Camera Cap Issue One of the biggest takeaway for Team 6 was to always check the vehicle before operating it. A very common recurring mistake was forgetting to remove the camera cap. Since the camera cap was on during most of our training sessions, the data retrieved from the track became unusable. Solution: Throw away the camera cap or get a different color cap Lithium Polymer Battery Issues One of Team 6's LiPo battery terminal leads was damaged due to the improper connection of the battery to the JackRPi09 vehicle. This issue delayed team 6's ability to train the vehicle for a few days until a replacement battery was issued. Team 6 was not aware of this battery issue until a firm connection could not be established between both components. Solution: Pay careful attention to the color-coded wires to establish the right connection Category:Browse